COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Police Thursday say the report of a teenager finding an abandoned newborn baby near a dumpster at a Colorado Springs apartment complex was a hoax.

The teen turned out to be the baby’s mother, and she was with the newborn girl the whole time, according to police.

“While we were responding to what we believed was a baby found in a dumpster, we later found out that never happened,” says Colorado Springs police spokeswoman Barbara Miller. “The mom did have total control of the baby at all times.”

The initial report came at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Rosemont at Shadow Grove apartment complex near I-25 and Nevada in northeast Colorado Springs.

Someone called 911 and reported finding the baby in the dumpster. As police conducted interviews in the area, they found a 17-year-old who turned out to be the baby’s mother.

Police also confirmed that the baby, a mere six to 12 hours old, was never in or near any trash containers. Charges are being considered against the mother. Possibilities include influencing a public official, a felony, and false reporting, a misdemeanor.

The baby was taken to Memorial Central hospital and was awake, alert, and stable according to police.

Donna Campbell, a resident at the apartment complex says, “I was told there was a baby found in the dumpster wrapped in its mother’s hospital gown so it sounds like it could be a newborn.”

Around 8 p.m. investigators entered a second floor apartment across from the dumpster and began taking photos and collecting evidence.

Colorado has what’s called a “safe haven” law passed in 2000 that allows a parent to hand over and infant, up to 72-hours-old, to an employee at any fire station or hospital, with absolutely no questions asked.

So long as the baby is unharmed, the parent will not be prosecuted for abandonment.